Oh, you thought Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks was bad, Indianapolis Colts fans? Well, we just learned on Thursday that Week 2 might be much, much worse.
No left tackle, no Xavier Rhodes, and a few hobbled stars with not much practice under their belt played a role in dooming Indy in their 28-16 loss, but what happens if a number of those hobbled stars don’t even play?
Based on the injury report from practice on Thursday, things certainly are not trending in the Colts’ favor, as injury woes continue to doom them in the early going.
Turns out the NFL didn’t do them a solid putting five playoff opponents on the docket in the first five weeks of the season. Pretty cool.
Kwity Paye (hamstring) doesn’t have a helmet as practice gets underway. Doesn’t look like he’s going today.
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) September 16, 2021
No sign of Darius Leonard (ankle), Quenton Nelson (back) or Braden Smith (foot).
Xavier Rhodes (calf) is out here but also doesn’t appear to have a helmet. #Colts
Thursday’s injury update for the Colts is … a very bad one.
Rhodes remains limited with his calf injury, which popped up just days before Week 1 and kept him out, which certainly affected the team’s defensive plan against the Seahawks’ impressive passing attack.
The team’s top pass rusher in Kwity Paye all of a sudden has a hamstring injury that isn’t allowing him to practice. Darius Leonard, Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith were nowhere to be found, with Leonard and Nelson still likely dealing with their previous ailments that required surgery, and Smith now dealing with a foot issue diagnosed earlier this week.
It would be a miracle if the Colts come within 20 points against the Rams if Braden Smith, Darius Leonard, Xavier Rhodes, Kwity Paye, and Quenton Nelson are all out.
— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) September 16, 2021
Regardless if Eric Fisher plays (which feels risky if he does), the Colts could potentially be down two of their best linemen against one of the best defenses in the league. Aaron Donald and the Los Angeles Rams are already nearly unstoppable against most starting lineups, and a Colts’ skeleton crew won’t stand a chance.
As for Leonard, are we to worry further about his ankle? Could that potential lingering issue have contributed to his poor performance in Week 1, which featured missed tackles, poor coverage, and getting bulldozed by blocks?
It’s clear the Colts secondary without Rhodes wasn’t up for the challenge against Russell Wilson, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, and while the assignment doesn’t exactly get harder, we’d say Matthew Stafford, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp pose a very similar threat.
Colts fans rightfully expected the first few weeks of the season to be a challenge, but not a disaster.
Colts: 3 players Indy is already wishing they didn’t get rid of
Based on how that first outing looked, some Colts fans might be wishing for these 3 players to return to Indianapolis this season.